1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to traction or brake means for assisting a skier in the control of his skis and more particularly to brake means in the form of snowplows mounted at the trailing ends of skis and to means subject to the control of the skier for operating said brake means.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2,358,213 is representative of a large number of patents residing in the prior art which disclose blade devices mounted to skis and movable for downward entry into the snow upon which the skis are operated. Most typically, such devices are employed as brakes during upward climbing motions to retard a rearward slippage of the skis. U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,867 illustrates a skid-retarding device or brake, the operation of which is triggered through the medium of a ski pole carried by the skier. U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,119 is of interest for its disclosure of a means to release a ski binding which is subject to the control of an operating mechanism associated with a ski pole carried by the skier, operating forces being transmitted to the ski binding through a harness attached to the skier's body.
A difficulty with the ski brake devices residing in the prior art is that they lack a uniform gradation such as would enable a skier to gradually increase or decrease the traction forces generated by operation of the brake mechanism. Such devices thus have a usefulness which is generally limited to walking or climbing procedures in which the skier moves the skis from static starting positions. A further limitation to the devices of the prior art results from an inability of such devices to so distribute the load between left and right skis that the traction effort will be shared between the left and right skis.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a ski traction device which operates in the manner of a snowplow.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved operating mechanism for ski traction devices.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide ski traction devices operable in pairs by operating means inherently capable of distributing the traction effort between the members of the pair.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and from the drawings.